XV. Love and Liberty (Romans 14:1-23)

XV. Love and Liberty (14:1-23)

14:1 There are two ways to judge others. We can judge them critically or charitably, to hurt or to help. God intends us to judge other people’s actions according to God’s principles, but to do so with love. Here Paul addresses the idea of judging others based on our own personal preferences and opinions. These are the disputed matters on which Christians should be able to disagree. Many manmade rules address things that aren’t clearly spelled out in Scripture. When we talk about human rules as if they’re God’s ideas, we harm those who are weak in faith.

14:2 Paul names a couple of the manmade rules that were tripping up these particular believers. The first regards diet. On one side, some believers thought eating meat was sinful, so they would eat only vegetables. Other believers thought it was okay to eat anything. The first group didn’t become vegetarian for dietary reasons, but convictional ones. The meat in Rome had been offered to idols; therefore, many people felt it was tainted with the demonic. The second group, however, thought, “Well, what’s an idol, anyway? It’s not a real god, and I don’t believe in them, so whatever happens to the meat before it arrives on my table is fine.” These differences of opinion created conflict.

14:3 Paul offers his input on eating, saying to both groups that God has accepted them. The problem was that the believers weren’t accepting each other. They were looking down on each other. We don’t usually argue over meat in the church today, but we do similar things by saying, “If you were really saved, you wouldn’t go to the movies. God’s people don’t go to places where secular music is played.” It’s fine to have personal convictions, but if the Bible hasn’t condemned a thing, we should give space to believers whose convictions differ on matters that Scripture does not address plainly.

14:4 Suppose you think movies and dancing are okay. That’s great: you’re free in Christ. But please don’t judge another’s household servant based on your house rules. Remember, he answers to God, and it is before his own Lord that he stands or falls. God’s Word gives a standard, and we are all called to meet it. But once we meet that standard, we can differ on the kind of bags we carry along the way.

14:5 Paul introduces another example regarding the same concept. Some people were celebrating special holidays, while others thought every day was the same. This discussion resonates with me because my father-in-law didn’t celebrate Christmas: he thought our culture had taken it over with commercialism. My wife, my kids, and I, however, do. The Bible says that I would be wrong to condemn him for what he was doing, just as he would’ve been wrong to condemn us. If each one is fully convinced in his own mind that he’s honoring God regarding a matter on which Scripture isn’t crystal clear, we need to let our brothers and sisters exercise liberty.

14:6-9 It’s uncomfortable for people at different levels of faith and maturity to coexist without judging each other on matters of preference. Paul gives us both a reason to respect others’ freedom and a motivation: you aren’t their master. In these verses, the phrase for the Lord shows up seven times. If a brother eats, let him eat for the Lord (14:6). If he doesn’t, let him not eat for the Lord. If he celebrates a day, he does it for the Lord; if not, he’s still doing it for the Lord. If he lives or dies, he’s doing it for the Lord—not for you (14:7-8). Many of our churches are drowning in legalism, and we’re putting a leash around the necks of other Christians with our manmade preferences. Moreover, we’re keeping rules for Brother Tom or for Sister Dana! We’ve got to stop trying to please each other and focus on pleasing the one who died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living (14:9). There is one Lord, and you’re not him.

14:10-12 The more we police the behavior of others, the more dangerous our own position becomes. Jesus said that is foolishness to point out a speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye if you have a two-by-four in your own (see Matt 7:3). Paul is getting at the same idea here: Why do you judge your brother or sister (14:10), when you know that each of us will give an account of himself to God (14:12)? God won’t be asking you about the opinions and preferences of your brother. He’ll be looking into your account. So don’t worry about your neighbor so much; keep a better, closer eye on yourself. Get out of his business and tend to your own.

14:13 Just because our focus is on pleasing God doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking of others at all. Instead of judging one another, we decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in their way. We think of others all the time, but our first question is not, “What faults can I find in their lives?” Instead, it is, “How will my actions affect them?” Yes, you are free to enjoy what God gives you the freedom to enjoy. But don’t use that freedom to hurt others. Don’t flaunt it.

14:14 Freedom is related to knowledge. Paul says, I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Because he knows, he grows in freedom. Think of a baby: when you have a baby in the house, certain freedoms go away. The scissors have to be put up high; the cabinets have to be locked. Why? Because the baby is too young to know how to use these things without hurting himself. As he gets older, you can relax the restrictions. God often prevents us from enjoying certain things, not because the actions themselves are wrong, but because we are too immature to enjoy them the right way. God wants us to know and to grow, and then he’ll expand our freedom.

14:15 Knowledge, by itself, is never enough. Knowledge must be used according to love. If your daughter wakes up terrified, telling you there’s a ghost in her room, you don’t just shout at her that ghosts aren’t real. She needs that knowledge, of course, but she also needs you in the room, hugging her. Love without knowledge is sentimental religion. Knowledge without love is cold religion. You’ve got to have both love and knowledge for a balanced faith.

14:16-18 This is the heart of this issue. The kingdom of God is not primarily about externals like eating and drinking. It’s about what happens internally, through the Spirit—righteousness, peace, and joy (14:17). Deep down, we all know that happiness is more about personal relationships than external circumstances. Give me beans and bread with a happy family rather than a T-bone steak with my wife refusing to speak to me (see Prov 17:1). The kingdom of God is not about the food you eat, but the relationships you have.

14:19-21 The goal of the kingdom is not to keep other people in line with our preferences, but to pursue what promotes peace (14:19). We can use our freedom in two ways: either we tear down God’s work (14:20) in people’s lives by flaunting our liberty, or we build up one another (14:19) by being sensitive to our weaker brothers and sisters. The irony is that while we may have the freedom to do something, if we continue to do it knowing it will make our brother stumble, that action suddenly becomes evil. On the contrary, it is a good thing not to . . . do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble (14:21). We are given freedom to build up the body of Christ, not to tear it down.

14:22-23 Throughout the entire conversation about freedom, Paul presupposes that we are following our conscience. A helpful way to summarize this is to say that everything that is not from faith is sin (14:23). So when in doubt about something, don’t do it. Your conscience is like a metal detector: it beeps when you approach something God hasn’t freed you to do. You may watch a dozen people walk through that metaphorical gate without the beep going off. Don’t bother about them. If your conscience beeps, don’t follow.